Call for Papers: Journal of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (JILPAC / HuV), Peer Reviewed, Issue 1/2027 on Human Rights in the Digital Age [Submit by Jan 15]

The Journal of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (JILPAC) / Humanitares Volkerrecht (HuV) is published by the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, through BWV Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, an imprint of Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart. Its predecessor title was founded at the IFHV in 1988 and has since been cited in work of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

JILPAC specialises in the legal analysis of contemporary armed conflicts. It covers international humanitarian law and the fields around it, including international human rights law and international criminal law, as well as the practical problems of humanitarian aid and peace missions. The journal appears twice a year, as double issues in June and December, and carries ISSN 2625-719X (print) and 2625-7203 (online).

Editorship is held by Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Heintze and Prof. Dr. Pierre Thielborger (both IFHV, Ruhr University Bochum) with Prof. Dr. Robert Heinsch (Leiden University). The advisory board draws on scholars from Glasgow, Cologne, Giessen, Coventry and the Swedish Defence University, among others.

The editorial board invites contributions for the first issue of 2027 on 'Rights, Platforms, and Algorithms: Human Rights in the Digital Age'. The call notes that the protection and realisation of human rights is increasingly shaped by digital technologies and platform-based infrastructures, and that a growing set of regulatory approaches and private governance mechanisms now influences how fundamental rights are limited and exercised in digital spaces.

Submissions are particularly welcome on:

• Freedom of expression, including the role of social media platforms
• The regulation of artificial intelligence from a human rights perspective
• Electoral integrity, disinformation, and hybrid threats to democratic processes
• Business and human rights in the digital sphere

The call states expressly that submissions focusing on other topics are equally welcome, provided they sit within the overall themes of the journal.

The call is open to authors from academia and from practice, worldwide. It sets no requirement of nationality, bar membership, institutional affiliation or career stage, so an Indian academic, practitioner or research scholar may submit on the same footing as any other author. Co-authored manuscripts are contemplated by the instructions for contributors, which ask for the name or names of the authors and a correspondence address, and no cap on the number of co-authors is stated.

JILPAC publishes several formats, each with its own indicative length:

• Articles: approximately 6,000 words including footnotes
• Conference reports: approximately 1,400 words including footnotes
• Book reviews (on request): approximately 1,400 words including footnotes
• Commentaries and case notes on current events and developments in the law

Contributions may be written in either English or German. English spelling should follow the Oxford Dictionary and German spelling the Duden, and the editors prefer the '-ise' and '-isation' endings.

Manuscripts must conform to the JILPAC house style guide, which is published on the IFHV website and on the site of Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag. In outline:

• Submit as a Word file (.docx, .rtf or .doc), justified, 1.5 line spacing, Times New Roman
• Title 16pt bold, author name 14pt small caps, headings 12pt bold, body text 12pt, footnotes 10pt single spaced
• Give the title in both German and English, plus author name or names and a correspondence address in an asterisk footnote
• For articles, supply an English and a German abstract of at most 1,200 characters including spaces, and 4 to 6 keywords in each language
• Number headings 1 / 1.1 / 1.1.1 and avoid automatic hyphenation, page numbers, bookmarks, automatic tables of contents and automatic cross-references
• Figures and tables not produced in Microsoft Office go in a separate file at a minimum of 300 dpi; permission to reproduce is the author's responsibility

Authors who do not speak German are not shut out: the editorial board, with its editorial assistants, will translate the manuscript title, abstract and keywords into German.

There is no submission fee and no article processing charge. JILPAC is a subscription journal distributed through Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag and the Franz Steiner e-Library, and the call and the instructions for contributors mention no charge to authors at any stage.

Equally, the instructions state that authors do not receive remuneration. Accepted authors are given digital access to the JILPAC volume in which their contribution appears, through the Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag e-Library.

Every contribution first goes through a preliminary review by the editorial board and is then subject to a double-blind peer review by the editorial and advisory board. The result of the peer review is shared with the author, who may be asked to revise the contribution in line with the reviewer's comments.

Copy-editing follows, during which the editorial board may suggest improvements to the draft. Proofs are checked by the author, and formatting errors are picked up by the editorial board.

Email the manuscript as a Word file to editing-ifhv@ruhr-uni-bochum.de, together with a brief abstract and a statement of affiliation. The deadline for Issue 1/2027 is 15 January 2027.

The journal runs on a fixed twice-yearly cycle: 15 January is the standing deadline for the June issue and 15 July for the December issue, so a manuscript that misses one window can be aimed at the next. Authors are also invited to consult the deputy editor about the intended length of an article before submitting.